If Daphne's sheer giddiness leading up to this point, during the early stages of hopefully becoming pregnant, was any indication to go by, her current mood was leaving Justin more than a little worried. Gone was his excited, practically giddy best friend and in her place was a pale, fidgety young woman who sat quietly beside him in the same waiting room they had occupied a week earlier. Shooting nervous glances around the room, Daphne's hands were clasped tightly in her lap.

From his position between his best friend and his husband, Justin was dumbfounded by the about face he was witnessing. Turning towards Brian, he tilted his head in the girl's direction, his eyes growing large in concern when he caught Brian's attention. The older man simply shrugged; he had also noticed Daphne's odd shift in her mood when they had met in the hallway before heading off to the clinic, but he had wrote it off to probably missing Suvi or something. He hadn't seen Daphne since he came back, the night before, from taking her daughter back to Pittsburgh a few days earlier and sometimes he found it impossible to read her moods. As he usually did, he let it go. She would approach him if the need arose, for whatever reason, for him to become involved in whatever was bothering her.

Brian had made the arduous trip back to Pittsburgh Sunday evening after the group enjoyed a leisurely dinner at what he had been told was the best restaurant in town. Much to his relief Suvi had fallen asleep almost as soon as the engine came to life. What had been a nearly seven hour trip on the way up, was reduced to just over five hours back, with only one stop for gas as the child never stirred. Cradling her small frame against his chest, Brian had carried her in to Debbie's house and up the stairs, laying her gently on Michael's old bed. Removing her shoes, Brian noted from having watched both Suvi and Gus sleep over the years, that moments like these were when you were most likely to be sucked back in to the baby game. If he remembered correctly, Justin had broached the subject of possibly having another baby one night after Gus had fallen asleep on the couch, curled up against Justin's side when he was visiting during Spring Break. That had been nearly two years ago.

Smiling softly, he tucked a wild curl behind Suvi's ear before pulling himself off the bed; turning around, only to be met with the knowing smile he knew all too well.

"Your secrets safe with me." Debbie whispered as she looked back to the sleeping child.

Bending down to kiss the woman's cheek as he left the room, Brian relayed the plans for the rest of their stay and thanked the redhead again, making his way out the front door.

Bringing himself back to reality, Brian once again shrugged his shoulders as he looked briefly to Daphne, but before he and Justin could silently debate the issue any further, the door beside the reception desk opened .

"Chanders and Kinney."

Turning his entire body towards his friend once all three stood up, Justin searched her eyes as he noticed a marked note of relief flash momentarily across her features as he followed her line of sight to see the same nurse they had dealt with for the retrieval.

"Daph, are you ok?" Justin nearly begged, not being able to remain quiet any longer while his friend seemed to be at war with herself.

Nodding her head, Daphne walked to the nurse, noticeably slower in her approach than she had been the week before. Smiling warmly at the young group she had become fond of in their brief acquaintance, the nurse led the way down the same hallway and waited for them to enter the same exam room. The three took their same positions as before; the younger two in the chairs as the older man leaned against the wall beside the blonde. This time, she noted, the playful banter was gone, now to be replaced by identical looks of apprehension and anxiety.

"And how are we today? I see by my paperwork that everything went exceedingly well with the retrieval and fertilization which is excellent news." Attempting to ease some of the tension, the nurse quickly realized that small talk would not do the trick. The only thing that would help ease their collective fears was to get this over as quickly as possible. This step in the process was often the most stressful on the patients emotions; there was no turning back at this point, and the worst part of all, there were no guarantees.

"We're doing well." Was all she would get from the brunette after he waited for the others to speak first. Justin, however, was too focused on Daphne to hear the nurse's words and Daphne was too focused on her hands that had resumed their earlier position in her lap.

"We'll get started." The nurse assured in a soothing tone.

"The procedure today will again take approximately 15 minutes, but the recovery period is much shorter, usually about an hour. You will be awake during the procedure and you will actually get to watch the process as the Endocrinologist will use a trans-abdominal ultrasound machine to track his progress so the entire process will be on the monitor if you would like to watch."

Daphne shook her head in acknowledgement as she started to squirm in her seat. This was a familiar sight for the nurse, "Did you make sure to drink lots of fluids before coming in, Ms. Chanders?"

"I feel like I'm about to bust." Daphne sighed apologetically.

"That is normal. It is unfortunate that you must be so uncomfortable for this part, but we get the best picture quality with the ultrasound machine if your bladder is full. Luckily, as I mentioned before, the procedure is short and I will try not to keep you long. I just need to go over a little bit of info and then we will hurry this along."

"Once you are in recovery, I will give you your Post Transfer Instructions along with what you can expect in the coming days and weeks, the restrictions that are placed on you over the next 48 hours as well as the early pregnancy signs you should start looking for in as early as 2 weeks."

"This procedure is pretty straight forward; once the eggs are transferred, you will need to remain laying flat for about an hour in recovery, afterwards you are free to go. The next 2 weeks will likely feel like the longest and most stressful of your life. In 14 days you can take a pregnancy test, but don't be discouraged if the first one comes back negative. I usually advise patients to take a test once a day for a couple days. If you test positive we will schedule a pregnancy test with your local clinic and then you will have your first ultrasound, back here, 2 weeks after the positive test. At that point we will be able to detect a heartbeat and see if one or both eggs survived. Two weeks after that you will have another ultrasound but that one can be administered in your hometown. If the pregnancy tests continue to read negative than we will schedule another appointment to discuss what options you feel comfortable with if you decide to continue on. I know this is a lot of information all at once but it will all be on the papers I give you before you leave today. Do you have any other questions?" The nurse asked as she looked between the woman and both men.

Once again, the brunette was the first to speak. "We were planning on traveling back to Pittsburgh as soon as possible; will Daphne be under any traveling restrictions?"

"The first 48 hours are the hardest. No heavy lifting, strenuous exercise or activity, no baths or swimming, and of course no consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, or drug. To better answer your question, though Mr. Kinney; there are no restrictions on travel."

Brian shook his head as if his first statement hadn't been clear. "We're talking 5 hours of driving, and that's without traffic. You're sure it won't hurt her or be uncomfortable?"

The nurse smiled at the concern that shone clearly in the old man's eyes. "Everything should be fine. Rest is warranted when the body calls for it, but studies have shown that long periods of rest after egg transfers have no bearing on success or failure."

Brian nodded his head.

"If that is all, we can get started. Ms. Chanders, are you ready?" The nurse asked as she stood up.

Daphne's eyes grew large, "Can Justin come with me? Is that allowed?" Looking back and forth, almost frantically, between the nurse and her best friend, she nearly pleaded with the blonde to go with her. Last time she had foolishly thought that she could keep her nerves at bay; which had proven to be a total failure. Today was simply different.

"Of course. You both can follow me and we'll get you in the room, dressed and on the table; I'll have to ask you to wear a sterilized cap and gown, sir." The nurse informed Justin as he nodded quickly. " I'll bring you in the room once she is settle in and you can remain by her head, behind the cloth divider for the procedure. The monitor will be placed where you both can see it." Opening the door, the nurse was relieved when she noticed the woman relaxing immediately when the blonde took her hand and gently pulled her up beside him.

Daphne glanced apologetically to Brian. "You've got the keys, so you can't leave." Her voice barely managed above a whisper, shaking noticeably, as she lamely tried to relieve some of the tension in the room.

"I'll be the best looking guy in recovery. You won't miss me." Brian stated evenly.

"As soon as I get them settled in, I will send a nurse to take you to the room she will be placed in afterwards, Mr. Kinney."

"No need to rush. I've got instructional poster here to teach me a thing or two. One can never be too experienced, after all." Brian responded dryly as he tapped his knuckle against the brightly colored poster beside his head.

As the others left the room, Brian threw one last teasing statement towards their retreating backs. "Sunshine, try not to pass out."

As instructed, the nurse took Daphne in to a larger exam room while Justin waited nervously in the hallway. Nearly ten minutes later the nurse reemerged, covered head to toe in pink, with a pile of some kind of odd blue cloth in her hands. "Let's get you into these so we can get you in there. While Ms. Chanders is handling this remarkably well, I think she really needs you this time. I think last week worked to scare all the confidence out of the poor girl" The nurse exclaimed apologetically as she helped Justin slip in to the gown and secure his hair under the cap as she apologized for the unflattering monstrosity that nearly swallowed him up.

He didn't care about the gown, though. He was more worried about the fact that Daphne HAD been nervous last week but had stubbornly refused to admit it. He should have realized and implored the staff to let him go back even if she had said it wasn't necessary. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach for not giving her emotions a second thought with everything else that had been racing through his head that day. Regardless of what was going on, Daphne's mental health was more important than anything else. He vowed to not make the same mistake twice.

"All set." The nurse broke through his thoughts as she led him in to the room; the two looking like walking sticks of puffy pink and blue cotton candy.

Justin spotted Daphne; quickly making his way to the chair that had been pushed beside her bed. Her legs were covered with layers of blue cloth similar to the gown he was wearing and a few nurses milled around the room as they gathered the required instruments.

"Sorry I had you come back here. I know you would have rather passed the time with Brian." Daphne laughed nervously as her hands gripped his tightly. At that moment, Justin knew Daphne was nervous. She hadn't said anything, or made one snide remark about the gown he had been force to wear. Normally, she would have never let this opportunity go unnoticed.

"Are you kidding? If I was with him right now all I would be hearing was how much he hated the smell of doctors' offices and how the medical profession is designed to capitalize on people's weaknesses in order to pilfer millions of dollars from patients…or something like that. You saved me from having to convincingly act like I agree with him to make him feel better. He's probably sitting in the room mumbling to himself as we speak." Justin grinned widely in an attempt to make Daphne laugh, at least a little.

He was rewarded with a small smile.

Better than nothing.

"Daph are you sure everything is ok? You've been acting really strange all day and if you are having second thoughts, I don't want you to go through with this because you think it's too late or if you've changed your mind? We can find another way if this is too much for you." Justin leaned closer to his best friend, trying to maintain a little privacy among the others in the room. This was not the ideal place to be having this conversation, but under the circumstances he needed Daphne to know that she had an out if she needed it.

"No, Justin, that's not it…" She started to explain but Justin stopped her.

"This is when it gets real, Daph, and I can't let this go on if you think this is something you will regret in the future. I know we've discussed what this means for all of us, and we've drawn up papers, but I swear, I will burn every copy if going through with this will, I don't know, make you resent me, or Brian, in the future, or cause you too much pain. You know we would never keep you from the baby, right? You will be just as big a part of the lives of any children Brian and I have; just like we are with Suvi. I know it's weird, and a lot of people don't understand it, but it works for us." Justin rambled so quickly, Daphne worried that he would run out of oxygen if he didn't take a breath.

Reaching up to physically stop him from talking, Daphne hoped her next words would assure her best friend that his fears were unwarranted. "Justin, if I thought I couldn't handle this, I never would have agreed because I know how much this means to you, and to Brian. I know it seems like I've just been going with the flow, but I've thought about this so much, especially all those months ago when you first brought it up. I knew that if I decided to do this, it was all or nothing. I couldn't back out, and that is not what I want to do at all."

Justin sighed in both relief and frustration. "Then what's wrong?" He implored, his eyes growing large.

"This morning when I was taking a shower and drinking what felt like the fiftieth glass of water, it just hit me that in two weeks' time I could be pregnant, well technically I could be pregnant today, but you know what I mean. Anyways, then it hit me that I might not be pregnant, or that only one of the babies might make it. You were there, well kind of; my last pregnancy was not planned. What if something is wrong with me and my body rejects the eggs? You and Brian are putting all your eggs into one basket, so to speak, and it's not like this is something you can throw a switch on or off to make happen. I just don't want to get everyone's hopes up only for nothing to happen." Daphne exclaimed as she angrily swiped at the wetness that was pooling in her eyes.

"Daph, do you think we would blame you if this didn't work?" Justin asked, his brow furrowing together.

Daphne shrugged, turning her head to look away from her best friend's intense gaze.

"You heard the doctor when he told us the statistics – less than half, actually more like one-third of in-vitro cases result in pregnancy. Regardless, we would never blame you; you want this just as much as we do." Distracted momentarily when the Endocrinologist entered the room, Justin tightened his grip on Daphne's hand. Brushing away the few stray tears that had escaped, Justin smiled down at his best friend. "I want you to stop worrying. If this doesn't work we will go from there, but I have a good feeling about this."

"You do?"

"Yep." Justin smiled brightly with a quick nod of his head.

"Ok."

"Good afternoon Ms. Chanders. Mr. Kinney, I presume?" The doctor asked, his voice muffled by the mask covering his mouth and nose.

"Justin."

"Everything is ready on my end; shall we proceed?" The corner of his eyes crinkled, the only sign of the hidden smile behind the fabric; his warm voice working to sooth the anxiety he could feel coming from the young duo.

Daphne looked over to Justin and grabbed both his hands in hers; nodding her head with more enthusiasm than he had seen all day.

"Excellent. Can you both see the monitor from where you are sitting? We can move it if you'd like." The doctor asked.

"No, we can see it."

"Ok, Chrissy, here, is going to run the ultrasound machine while I transfer the eggs." The doctor informed them as he pointed to the nurse they had been dealing with almost exclusively since they had first come to the clinic. Daphne relaxed, somewhat; she really liked the nurse. "We should be done in about 15 minutes and then you will be on to recovery. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good." Her voice was still somewhat shaky, but much improved from earlier.

"You know what would make this little movie even better?" Justin asked, a wicked grin forming at the corner of his mouth. Daphne shook her head. "Popcorn!"

"Asshole!" Daphne mumbled, wanting to slug her friend in the arm though she knew she had to remain still.

"This will be cold at first." Chrissy stated apologetically as she squirted a generous amount of the green gel on Daphne's exposed abdomen.

"Whoa!" Daphne sucked in, her body tensing up before it relaxed again.

"Easy there Blossom!" Justin laughed as he watched the nurse glide the bulky wand around on Daphne's stomach.

"You nerd! Right show, wrong character." Daphne grinned as the image on the monitor became more focused. A black and white picture came to life on the screen.

"Ok, you might feel a little pressure as I insert the catheter, but it won't hurt but it will likely feel uncomfortable, but with any luck it will be over quickly. We just have to make sure we find the perfect spot for the eggs to hopefully implant themselves successfully." The doctor said from behind the wall of blue fabric surrounding Daphne's legs.

Daphne nodded as she locked eyes with Justin. A few moments later she laid her head back on the bed, her eyes clamped shut as she tightened her grip on Justin's hand.

"You ok?" Nodding her head, her eye lids fluttered open once her body adjusted.

"If you both will look at the monitor, you'll be able to watch the transfer."

Directing their eyes back to the black and white image, it was hard to make out exactly what they were looking at, but Justin could make out what looked like a long hollow stick that jumped in and out of focus with each movement of the wand.

"I found the location we need. Keep watching…" the doctor urged.

As the picture came in to focus once again, Justin's breath caught in his throat as he watched two round blobs tumble out of the opening of the tube. "There they are." He whispered as he leaned down towards Daphne; her arms encircled his in a fierce hug against her chest; nodding her head furiously. Justin found himself awkwardly positioned half on the bed beside Daphne as she stared at the monitor, her arms locked like a vice around his as he found himself unable to look away from the small screen in front of them.

Finally looking back towards Justin, Daphne smiled; her eye's a watery mirror to his own. "I've got a good feeling too."

[o][o][o][o][o]

A/N – This chapter kind of took on a life of its own. I had originally planned on this part, the egg transfer, to be much shorter than it turned out to be, but the awesomeness of Daph and Justin just kind of took over. I hope you don't mind. This ends the majority of the medical/clinical aspect of the in-vitro process. For those who haven't much cared for this side of the story, I promise things will turn the corner after this. I just really wanted to make sure I got this as correct as possible and I did a lot of research for the information I needed. In-vitro isn't something that happens quickly or successfully for a lot of people, so I kind of wanted to make sure I did it justice where I could. Anyways, lots of fluff and angst coming up from this point on.

Also, I really want to thank everyone for the awesome reviews I've been getting and all the story/author alerts. Many of your questions will be answered in the coming chapters as to who Suvi's father is, when Justin came back from New York and when the boys got married, as well as what's up with Gus. All of this, plus a lot of other questions will be answered in the near future, so please don't hate me too much. I do have a method to my madness, I promise.

As always, feedback/reviews are so very much loved as they really do fuel me to get chapters out sooner. This chapter would have been out a day or two earlier, but some unexpected real-life shenanigans got in the way. The next chapter is outlined and simmering in my head, so hopefully it won't be long…reviews could ONLY help this process along *hint, hint*

Everyone have an awesome and SAFE 4th of July!

Evelyn

PS: This chapter was supposed to be posted yesterday but FF wouldn't let me upload the chapter, so I had to wait until today. Sorry!